Anna Laurenzo - 2021 Award Winner 

Noted for her  lovely tone and convincing dramatic arc  mezzo-soprano Anna Laurenzo has gained experience in a wide range of repertoire over her diverse career. In the spring of 2020, Ms. Laurenzo made her Off-Broadway debut understudying the role of Mrs. Van Buren and singing in the ensemble of the world premiere of _Intimate Apparel _at the Lincoln Center Theater by Ricky Ian Gordon and Lynn Nottage (postponed due to COVID19.) Additional recent engagements include, a role and company debut as Dorabella in _Cos  fan tutte_ with the Glacier Symphony followed by Dorabella with the Metropolitan Opera Guild and her Fall 2019 return to Chicago Opera Theater, performing the role of Meg Weathers in the Chicago premiere of Everest.

A passionate interpreter of art song, Ms. Laurenzo has joined the Collaborative Arts Institute of Chicago as their Vocal Chamber Music Fellow for the 2020-21 season, featured in their Fall Festival 2020 virtual programming as well as presenting a solo recital of French repertoire in April 2021. In the Summer of 2020, she was proud to be an Inaugural Vocal Fellow with the Crested Butte Music Festival.

The 2018/2019 season saw Laurenzo s Carnegie Hall debut as the mezzo soloist in Vivaldi s _Gloria _and Haydn s _Mariazeller Mass_. She was seen in performances of _The Rose and the Knife_ with LOFTrecital: a provocative performance of Berlioz s _Les Nuits d' t _, and a performance of Joel Feigin s _Outcast at the Gate_ with Center for Contemporary Opera. Ms. Laurenzo also joined the roster of Chicago Opera Theater as the cover for the role of Brother in Stefan Weisman and David Cote s critically acclaimed, _The Scarlet Ibis_ in the work s Chicago premiere.

Noted especially for her performance of contemporary American works, Laurenzo is a veteran of multiple world premiere productions. She stars in the 2020 release of _Voir Dire_ original cast album in the roles she originated in the 2017 world premiere performances at Fort Worth Opera. Her collaborations have included work with several renowned composers, including Ricky Ian Gordon, Carlisle Floyd, Jeff Myers, Scott Wheeler, David T. Little, and Libby Larsen. She covered the role of Jackie Kennedy in Fort Worth Opera s world premiere production of JFK, and performed in the company's 2016 and 2017 festival seasons as GPS in Patrick Soluri's _Embedded_, the Undertaker in Jeff Myers' _Buried Alive_, and Alycia Simpson in Matthew Peterson's _Voir Dire_.

Within the standard operatic repertoire, Laurenzo has recently performed Dorabella in _Cosi fan tutte_, Merc d s in _Carmen_, and covered Rosina in _Il barbiere di Siviglia_. She has also appeared as Pedrillo in a rare mounting of Telemann's _Don Quichotte_, Farnace in Mozart's adventurous early work _Mitridate, re di Ponto_, Isabella in _L'italiana in Algeri_, Olga in _Eugene Onegin_, Ida in _Die Fledermaus_, Emma Jones in _Street Scene_, and Paquette in _Candide_.

Ms. Laurenzo has been recognized in the vocal competition circuit, most recently winning the 2021 Artist Presentation Society Competition, and winning Second Prize in the 2021 Schubert Club Competition. She has also recently won the New York district of the 2018 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. In 2017, she was the second place winner of the Fielder Grant, and in 2016 she won an encouragement award from the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, was honored as a finalist for the American Prize, and competed as a semi-finalist in the Opera Birmingham competition.

Mezzo Soprano | she/her | www.annalaurenzo.com

- Anna Laurenzo, 2021 Artist Presentation Society Audition Winner

Vocal Concert, October 2021 - Anna Laurenzo